Laurens received a bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at Design Academy Eindhoven (1999), a master's degree in Sociology (2018, cum laude), and a doctorate in Sociology (2024) – both at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He was a teacher, researcher and mentor at St. Joost School of Art & Design (2008-2023), and a guest lecturer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Fontys Academy of Architecture and Urbanism, Willem de Kooning Academy and SUPSI, Lugano. Kolks worked as a researcher at the Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology - Avans University of Applied Sciences.

Laurens Kolks' research and writing address subjects at the intersection of sociology and design. He investigates how design enacts the articulation of public issues. He examines how various design approaches contribute to public engagement with collective concerns.

Public engagement, formgiving, design theory, sociological theory, (re)shaping public spaces through design, more-than-human design.